Marking the two-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death, President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday meant to “advance effective, accountable policing and criminal justice practices that will build public trust and strengthen public safety.”
During a ceremony at the White House for the event President Biden commented on the deadly mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas which left 19 children and two adults dead and announced that he and the first lady would be traveling to Texas.
"Jill and I will be traveling to Texas in the coming days to meet with the families, and let them know that we have a sense of their pain, and hopefully bring some little comfort to the community in shock and grief and in trauma," Biden said.
“As a nation, I think we all must be there for them. Everyone,” Biden said. “And we must ask when in God’s name will we do what needs to be done to, if not completely stop, fundamentally change the amount of the carnage that goes on in this country.”
The order will direct the attorney general to create a national database of police misconduct. The White House said the database “will include records of officer misconduct (including convictions, terminations, de-certifications, civil judgments, resignations and retirements while under investigation for serious misconduct, and sustained complaints or records of disciplinary actions for serious misconduct), as well as commendations and awards.”
The order also requires federal law enforcement agencies to create body-worn camera policies, ban the use of chokeholds and carotid restraints unless deadly force is authorized and restricts the use of no-knock entries to a limited set of circumstances.
Other guidelines in the order include requiring new standards for accreditation and for accrediting bodies, implementing a new, evidence-informed annual anti-bias training requirement and tracking data on use of force incidents.
Floyd died while in police custody on May 25, 2020. Now imprisoned Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes, 46 seconds. For the final two minutes and 53 seconds, prosecutors said, Floyd was unresponsive. Chauvin was later convicted of murdering Floyd.
Floyd’s death sparked nationwide protests and calls for changes to the justice system.